E-mail Etiquette

With the increasing popularity of this site, there's also been an increasing number of e-mails we've been receiving. So many, in fact, that sometimes we have to make choices as to which to answer, and which not to answer. To ensure that you're among the lucky ones who receive an answer, follow the following simple guidelines:

I don't really take requests for Beatles songs. In time, I think all Lennon's Beatle-era compositions will end up here -- possibly McCartney's and Harrison's too.

Before you ask for the chords to a specific Lennon song, make sure it's not in the list. To aid you further: "that christmas song" is called Happy Xmas (War Is Over), and "I don't believe in Beatles" is from God.

Be polite. We hate receiving mail that lacks an introduction, middle and end, is unsigned and is written either without any capital letters or with the caps lock button switched on. Praise to those who write good e-mails. We're not demanding you know how to spell every single word, but please have some basic writing skills covered before you click the 'send' button. And remember: I before E except after C. (And except with weird, which is odd.) So it's believe and receive, not the other way around.

Use a good subject header. Subjects like 'help', 'some questions' or 'Asistence' will only lead to us thinking it's spam, and deleting the mail. Blank subjects are automatically routed to the trash can.

Do you Yahoo? Tough. Most mail from yahoo.com is spam, so all mail from an yahoo.com address is automatically routed to the trash can.

What goes for yahoo.com goes for hotmail.com, only doubly so.

Be clear. Don't ask us about a song 'with a great riff', but try to be slightly more precise, if possible. Please also read your own e-mail after writing it; reading your own mail helps you spot silly mistakes like words missing from sentences. If we have to guess as to the meaning of the e-mail, we won't bother.

No, proper use of capitals is not optional. Neither is some basic interpunction.